GENEVA, N.Y.—Senior Connor Rehbaum produced game-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Hobart College basketball team moved into a first place tie in the Liberty League with a 66-56 win over Skidmore College in Bristol Gym tonight.
 
Both teams made 19 field goals in the game, but the Statesmen made more than twice as many 3-pointers as the Thoroughbreds (9-4) and had a 19-14 advantage in made free throws. Hobart committed just six turnovers in the game, its second best performance of the year, outdone only by the five turnovers it committed at Skidmore two weeks ago.
 
The first half was played a frenetic pace with all of the intensity fans would expect with first place on the line. Hobart took control of the game with a 16-4 run over an eight-minute span late in the frame. Rehbaum made two 3-pointers and senior Andrew Hoy added 5 points during the surge that put the home team up 31-20 with 1:41 to go. A Blanding 3-pointer with 71 second left put the Statesmen in front by 12, but sophomore Royce Paris made a layup for Skidmore to go into the break with Hobart leading 34-24.
 
Thoroughbred Connor Merrill led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, Rehbaum and Hoy had 11 for Hobart.
 
Skidmore junior Aldin Medunjanin opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer, igniting a 12-2 run for the visitors. Medunjanin tied the game, 36-all, with a layup at the 16:51 mark. Over the next 13 minutes, neither team led by more than five points trading the lead back-and-forth four times before the Statesmen finished off their sixth consecutive win.
 
Clinging to a 1-point lead with 3:28 left to play, Hoy buried a 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining to give Hobart a two-possession lead. Hoy made four 3-pointers in the game and logged 18 points.
 
Skidmore tried to answer from long range, but misfired and Rehbaum corralled the carom. Sophomore Pete Drescher (6 pts, 5 rebs) made a layup off a nifty feed from senior Trey Blanding, one of his 10 assists on the night, to put the Statesmen up six at the 1:37 mark.
 
Medunjanin twice got his team within 4 in the final minute, but Hobart secured the by making all eight of its free throws in the last 33 seconds.
Merrill led Skidmore with 22 points. Paris chipped in 13 points and six rebounds. Medunjanin added 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Hobart (14-6, 9-2) will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 7, when the Statesmen host Rensselaer (6-14, 3-8) at 4 p.m. Skidmore (11-7, 8-2) will also play tomorrow at 4 p.m., visiting RIT (11-9, 6-5).